Calif. murder suspect arrested in Amarillo

Steven Sylvester’s name appeared scrawled on a slip of paper found at the scene of a 1992 California killing, but he disappeared — for almost 20 years — after the crime.

Authorities finally tracked the homeless man down in Amarillo after getting a tip last week from Guyon Saunders Resource Center on South Tyler Street, California authorities said.

Sylvester is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on a murder charge in a San Bernardino County, Calif., courtroom in the beating death of Robert Dennis, 52, of Victorville, Calif.

Sylvester, 57, told investigators he was hitchhiking when Dennis picked him up along a Southern California highway in November 1992. Dennis, who lived with his mother, took Sylvester home where he could “eat, shower and wash his clothes,” said San Bernardino Sheriff’s Detective Greg Myler. “He spent the night there.”

Dennis’ mother, who had been away in the mountains with her new husband, found Dennis dead at their home about 12:10 a.m. Nov. 5, 1992. There were no signs of forced entry, police said.

Dennis died of blunt-force trauma, but no murder weapon was found, police said. Investigators found the slip of paper with Sylvester’s name on it and photos of Sylvester inside Dennis’ bedroom, they said.

Dennis’ Subaru station wagon and other property were missing. The car has never been found, Myler said. Police would not reveal what other property was missing.

The investigation focused on Sylvester, a known transient from Amarillo who had been arrested in San Bernardino County for public intoxication during the previous year, Myler said. Neighbors reported seeing Sylvester at the home before Dennis’ mother found him.

But Sylvester disappeared and the trail turned cold.

In 2010, Myler’s cold case unit reopened the investigation. He and another detective flew to the Panhandle to search for Sylvester last year. They were told that Sylvester could be found in Shamrock, but they never found him.

While in the Texas Panhandle, detectives spread the word at homeless shelters to watch for Sylvester. Amarillo shelter employees said they recognized Sylvester but had not seen him for about a year, Myler said.

On Jan. 11, an employee at Guyon Saunders contacted Myler and told him he had seen Sylvester. The caller provided an address where Sylvester might be found. Myler contacted the Potter-Randall Special Crimes Unit, who gave the information to the Amarillo SWAT team.

Within hours SWAT found Sylvester in a home in the 900 block of North Foxglove Street, said Amarillo Sgt. Brent Barbee.

Officers booked Sylvester into the Potter County Detention Center on a California murder warrant, records show.

San Bernardino detectives flew to Amarillo on Thursday and interviewed Sylvester, Myler said.

Sylvester waived extradition Friday, officials said. The detectives returned Saturday to California with Sylvester and booked him into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., officials said. He remained in the facility on $1-million bail, officials said.